Political discussions overshadow Berlin Film Festival finaleAFP, BERLINThe 76th Berlin Film Festival, usually called the Berlinale, drew to a close yesterday after 10 days in which the 22 films in competition were often overshadowed by a row over the role politics should play in filmmaking. The Berlin Film Festival’s logos are pictured in Germany on Friday. Among the standout entries in the official competition was We Are All Strangers by director Anthony Chen. The film portrays the devastation Alzheimer’s disease inflicts on a patient’s loved ones. “My husband’s got dementia, so I have had a lot of background,” said actress Anna Calder-Marshall, who plays the ailing mother in the film.

Study finds that women experience pain for longerAFP, NEW YORKTo all the women who have heard the frustrating “it’s all in your head” in response to medical maladies, a new study published on Friday feels your pain. Research published in the Science Immunology journal showed that women actually do experience exacerbated chronic pain compared to men — a gap that could be explained by biological differences in the immune system. Research published in the Science Immunology journal showed that women actually do experience exacerbated chronic pain compared to men. However, chronic pain persists with mild to no stimulation, and women constitute 60 to 70 percent of the people experiencing it, Laumet said. University of California, San Francisco researcher Elora Midavaine, who studies chronic pain, said the new study adds “important nuance” to how we understand the interactions of hormones and the immune system, and their influence on pain.

The question is whether we will win,” Zelenskiy said at the presidential palace in the Ukrainian capital. Ukraine still controls around one-fifth of the heavily industrialized and fortified Donetsk region, while Russia has seized roughly the entire Lugansk region. Ukraine has repeatedly ruled out pulling its troops out of the region, saying such a move would only embolden Russia. Zelenskiy said Kyiv was taking advantage of the situation, but conceded that Ukrainian forces had also experienced interruptions due to the outages. He said on Friday that Kyiv wants European troops — earmarked to be deployed in Ukraine in case of a halt in fighting — to be positioned close to the front.

EU nations launch joint drone programGAME CHANGER The Russian invasion of Ukraine has shown the utility of small drones for recon, for supporting logistics and for killing across the modern battlefieldAP, WARSAWFive European nations have announced a new program to produce low-cost air defense systems and autonomous drones using Ukrainian expertise, hard-won over the past four years fighting against Russia. Both Moscow and Kyiv have cutting-edge drone warfare capabilities forged in the grim laboratory of war where battlefield innovations have rewritten modern battle tactics. Photo: EPAPoland is already working with Ukraine on drone technology in joint military training programs and manufacturing projects. The problem is to be effective at shooting down relatively low-cost missiles, drones, and other threats facing us,” he said. Europe has scrambled to arm itself in the wake of US President Donald Trump’s deep criticism of NATO, European defense spending and once iron-clad alliances.

US condemns death of far-right protesterAFP, LYON, FRANCEUS President Donald Trump’s administration on Friday denounced “terrorism” and left-wing violence in France as French police braced for a weekend rally for a dead far-right protester. Demonstrators gather during a rally in tribute of Quentin Deranque in Lille, France, on Wednesday, following his death on the sidelines of a far-right protest against a left-wing politician in Lyon, France. French Minister of the Interior Laurent Nunez said he had planned an “extremely large police deployment” with reinforcements to ensure security. In snap parliamentary polls in 2024, Macron’s supporters and the left, including the hard left, hadallied against the far right. “It’s a moment aimed at delegitimizing part of the political spectrum and casting the triumphant far right as a victim,” the moderate right-winger wrote on social media.

Conservationists call for the protection of pangolinsAP, CAPE TOWNThey are hunted for their unique scales, and the demand makes them the most-trafficked mammal in the world. Wildlife conservationists again raised the plight of pangolins, the shy, scaly anteaters found in parts of Africa and Asia, on World Pangolin Day yesterday. All of them face a high, very high or extremely high risk of extinction. While they are sometimes known as scaly anteaters, pangolins are not related in any way to anteaters or armadillos. Nigeria is home to three of the four African pangolin species, but they are not well known among the country’s 240 million people.

Austria turns Adolf Hilter’s home into police stationAFP, BRAUNAU AM INN, AustriaTurning the house where Adolf Hitler was born into a police station has raised mixed emotions in his Austrian hometown. “It’s a double-edged sword,” office assistant Sibylle Treiblmaier said outside the house in the town of Braunau am Inn on the border with Germany. People on Tuesday work to turn the birth house of Adolf Hitler in Braunau am Inn, Austria, into a police station. Austria has repeatedly been criticized in the past for not fully acknowledging its responsibility in the Holocaust. Last year, two streets in Braunau am Inn commemorating Nazis were renamed after years of complaints by activists.

Fan Chen-hung (范振鴻), president of Capital Investment Management Corp, said the decision should be seen as somewhat positive for the Taiwan Stock Exchange’s post-holiday reopening. The main beneficiaries, he said, were likely to be the stocks of non-tech manufacturers, including apparel and footwear producers. Overall, Fan said the court ruling would have only a limited influence on the local stock market, with investor sentiment likely to be more affected by how the market interprets the earnings report of chip giant Nvidia Corp scheduled to be released on Wednesday. It is not as simple as: “if the IEEPA fails, tariffs return to square one,” he said. The ART has reduced IEEPA tariffs to 15 percent, while Section 232 tariffs on Taiwanese exports have been reduced to 15 percent, Walters said.

Stray cats reported to remember the hand that feedsDO THEY BITE IT? “When cats come to a human bearing food, it is coming for the food, not the person,” he said. Cats can also learn from the behavior of other cats, as a stray that consistently interacts with a group depending on humans for food would adopt some of the group’s familiarity with people, he said. Cats are significantly more aloof than dogs, creating the erroneous impression that stray cats are unable to remember the people who fed them a short time ago, he said. “Cats deem humans their servants, but it is a role some humans are only too happy to play.”

President, sports minister offer post-holiday exercisesBy Chen Yun, Tsai Cheng-min and Esme Yeh / Staff reportersPresident William Lai (賴清德) demonstrated post-Lunar New Year holiday home exercises along with Minister of Sports and Olympic gold medalist Lee Yang (李洋) in a video released by the Presidential Office yesterday. President William Lai, left, and Minister of Sports Lee Yang, Olympic gold medalist, demonstrates simple exercises that can be done at home in a video released by the Presidential Office yesterday. Prolonged poor postures can lead to a sore neck or shoulder muscles and stiff lower back, she added. She advised to relax stiff muscles and relieve fatigue by doing several stretching exercises targeting different body parts. People are advised to do these stretching exercises while breathing smoothly, Lee Ming-shan said, adding the desired feeling is “tightness” in the stretched muscles rather than “pain.”

Review status of relatives of opposition: ex-MarineDEFENSE: The US should cancel the US visas or green cards of relatives of KMT and TPP lawmakers who have been blocking the budget, Grant Newsham said A retired US Marine Corps officer has suggested canceling the US green cards and visas of relatives of opposition Taiwanese lawmakers who have been stalling the review of a proposed NT$1.25 trillion (US$39.7 billion) special defense budget. The Executive Yuan has proposed the budget for major weapons purchases over eight years, from this year to 2033. However, opposition lawmakers have refused to review the proposal, demanding that President William Lai (賴清德) first appear before the Legislative Yuan to answer questions about the proposed budget. On Thursday last week, 37 bipartisan US lawmakers sent a letter to Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), the headsBy Sam Garcia

Review status of relatives of opposition: ex-MarineDEFENSE: The US should cancel the US visas or green cards of relatives of KMT and TPP lawmakers who have been blocking the budget, Grant Newsham said A retired US Marine Corps officer has suggested canceling the US green cards and visas of relatives of opposition Taiwanese lawmakers who have been stalling the review of a proposed NT$1.25 trillion (US$39.7 billion) special defense budget. The Executive Yuan has proposed the budget for major weapons purchases over eight years, from this year to 2033. However, opposition lawmakers have refused to review the proposal, demanding that President William Lai (賴清德) first appear before the Legislative Yuan to answer questions about the proposed budget. On Thursday last week, 37 bipartisan US lawmakers sent a letter to Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), the headsBy Sam Garcia

From studio to hangars: Scale artist paints Army helicoptersStaff Writer, with CNATaiwanese award-winning scale model artist Fan Cheng-pin (樊成彬) has taken his craft beyond the studio by volunteering to paint Taiwanese Army helicopters for public events. Taiwanese scale model artist Fan Cheng-pin paints an Army helicopter. Fan said that painting full-size helicopters is physically demanding, requiring constant climbing in hangars and following a 10-day schedule aligned with the routines of soldiers. Asked about future plans, he mentioned exploring “localized camouflage,” noting that Taiwan’s Apache helicopters use “North American green” despite the island’s warmer subtropical forest tones. Fan hopes his painting experience can inform discussions on adapting camouflage to local environments, contributing to functionality and aesthetics.

The KMT and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) have staunchly opposed the Executive Yuan’s NT$1.25 trillion (US$39.7 billion) special defense budget which was proposed late last year, covering this year through to 2033, to bolster the nation’s defense resilience and asymmetric capabilities. However, the TPP last month proffered its own version of a special budget defense bill for NT$400 billion. The source also said that former TPP Chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) recently stated that the TPP would amend its proposed defense budget after discussions with the US. A KMT legislator, speaking on condition of anonymity, said caucus members were amenable to discussing a budget, but that there were fundamental disagreements over the budget number. The KMT party central has never wanted to block the budget, but wished to keep the budget cap at NT$350 billion, regardless of whether it is a caucus-proposed version or an amendment proposal on the floor, the legislator said.

Trump to visit China for high-stakes Xi Jinping meetingBloombergUS President Donald Trump plans to travel to China from March 31 to April 2 for a meeting with his counterpart Xi Jinping (習近平) as the two leaders look to navigate a trade relationship again plunged into uncertainty and navigate tensions around Taiwan. US President Donald Trump, left, and Chinese President Xi Jinping talk as they leave after a bilateral meeting at Gimhae International Airport, on the sidelines of the APEC summit, in Busan, South Korea, on Oct. 30 last year. “President Xi, he treated me so well, he gave me a display, I never saw so many soldiers all the same height, exactly the same height,” Trump said. Following months of talks, Trump and Xi reached a one-year agreement in October to lower duties and export restrictions. The December announcement drew swift condemnation from Beijing, though Xi stopped short of demanding Trump halt the sales altogether.